Before I get started, as per always, I am not condoning drug use whatsoever. I am simply sharing my own personal experience with you, and you can take this info and do with it what you wish.
I’ve microdosed LSD…aka, acid…a LOT.
I’ve taken acid…I don’t even know. 40 times or so. So I’ve had my fair share of experiences with it.
Like shrooms, which is the only other psychedelic I’ve taken, my experiences with acid have all been eye-opening. Every time I take it, I come out the other side feeling wiser, with a deeper understanding of myself and life as a whole. So, needless to say, just like shrooms, it’s also going to be a part of my life forever.
Also similar to shrooms, a full trip on acid is like running a computer virus cleaning program, but on your brain. In this case, your brain is the computer, with loads of tabs open, downloading spam, processing thousands and thousands of thoughts, often feeling overloaded and slowed down.
A day spent in a full trip on acid is like wiping the slate clean, removing ALL of that junk, and waking up the next day anew and refreshed AF.
When it comes to psychedelics, the vibe I do NOT fuck with is, “Let me take this and get really fucked up,” because for me, it’s important to have the right intentions in mind before doing them.
For me, it’s the vibe of, “I’m going to take this, have fun, and highly likely will come out the other side of this trip having fresh perspectives, new creative ideas, and a deeper understanding of life, and myself.”
In my experience, shrooms and acid have a lot of similar effects – you can read about my experience with shrooms here.
In short, it, too, is an ego dissolver.
For me, it’s a complete refresh. It re-centers me and re-reminds me of who I truly am, and what’s important in life.
I also didn’t try acid till later in life, at 29, which I’m thankful for because I don’t think I would have fully appreciated its incredible effects had I done it growing up.
In short, after I tried acid, I felt like I truly understood life.
Before I get into my latest experience, here’s the vibe I get into BEFORE ingesting it…
- Make sure I’m in an environment that’s super comfortable. For me, most of the time, that’s either at my house, a close friend’s house, or an AirBNB with a trusted trip buddy. I want to feel at home, peaceful and relaxed. I also want to make sure my environment is clean, clutter-free, and overall just PLEASANT.
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- I only recommend taking acid in a public place (like, say, a music festival, or a public park) as a seasoned taker. I can feel weird around other people because I just know they’re not on the same “plane of existence” as me when I’m on it, if that makes sense. As in, when I’m on acid, I’m processing my thoughts differently. It can be an uncomfortable feeling when I’m around other people who aren’t on it. I feel like an alien. I do have enough of a grip on myself to be fine with that, but I just prefer to not.
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- I make my environment super duper vibe-y. For me, what that looks like is:
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- Pre-stocking the fridge with fresh fruit (I don’t usually want to eat when I’m on acid, but in my experience, when I do, it’s SWEET food). Yes, candy tastes FANTASTIC on it, but as a healthy person, fruit like crisp grapes, strawberries and other berries are SO GOOD.
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- Having fun activities to do. Video games are SO fun. Coloring books. Board games (ones that don’t require much strategic thinking). Puzzles. Netflix.
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- Music! I love to hook my phone up to a Bluetooth speaker with my favorite music. Jazz and trippy electronic is pretty cool for this excursion.
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- I LOVE having piles of comfy stuff to just roll around on (I’m a cuddle bug by nature and like to be cozy, so this is my JAM). Stuff like lots of fuzzy blankets to lay out on on the floor, big squishy pillows, etc. I am known to literally make pillow/blanket forts in this state.
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- Lighting! I prefer to do acid at night. It’s just…vibier, is the best way I can describe it. I have a galaxy star projector light and a few other colorful lights I love to turn on for my trip.
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- Make sure nobody is going to be coming over other than the people who are joining me for my trip, who are always close, trusted friends. If I want to make it a group thing, I always make sure I have a chill crew of people who are on the same wavelength for this kind of endeavor.
- UNPLUG. Phone goes on airplane mode ALL day (in my experience, too, when I even try to look at my phone when I’m on psychedelics, I’m repulsed by how tethered I am to reality and don’t even WANT to be on it. LOL). I swear this is my subconscious talking to me. The idea with acid is to COMPLETELY let go and be present in the moment.
- Wear a cozy ‘fit. Catch me in a giant t-shirt and/or hoodie, leggings, socks and…that’s it! I ALWAYS want to be as comfy as possible.
- Clear out my schedule. On a trip day, I am completely unplugged, with absolutely nowhere to go and no responsibilities for that day, or the next (if I’m doing it at night).
- If I’m with friends who have done it many times before and CAN handle their shit if, let’s say, god forbid there’s an emergency, then I’m good to do it with just all of you. When, however, I was brand new to acid, and the people I was with were, too, I would always get a sober friend to come hang for the day to be the grounding force among everyone.
- Deal with anything going on in my life. If I have something that’s pissing me off, or I’m sad…if I’m feeling anything other than GOOD, I make sure to deal with whatever’s bugging me head on and sort through it. Often, I do this DURING a trip. Something to always remember that I keep in mind is that whatever is in me, if I’m burying anything, it WILL come up. So I’m ALWAYS mindful of that. And that’s NOT a bad thing, but it’s something that’s important to keep in mind. But, once I sort through it, no matter what that looks like, it always feels like a massive weight has been lifted off me. Like I can breathe again. Processing my bullshit is SO freeing.
- Stay hydrated all day. No alcohol. No caffeine. Just good ol’ H2O and sparkling water.
Here’s a play-by-play of what a typical trip looks like for me:
- Eat it. I usually have it in gel form, which is a tiny gel square that I put in my mouth and let dissolve on my tongue. I’ve also had it on dried mango, a paper square and a gummy candy. It comes in many forms.
- Wait. I like to distract myself and wait for it to suddenly kick in. Usually that means I’m playing happy video games or watching a movie (colorful animated movies are the BEST). It usually takes 30 minutes or so to start feeling it.
- I can tell when it’s kicking it because I start to get that butterfly sensation in my stomach. Like what happens when I’m excited…or drink coffee. TBH it kinda feels like both at the same time.
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- I can also tell when it’s kicking in because everything becomes fucking hilarious. I just start laughing at EVERYTHING. Like, I can control myself, and I’m in my right frame of mind, but I just THINK differently. It’s like as a kid when I used to play video games with my friends and just acted silly and giggled and had fun. Same vibes.
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- I LOVE playing video games and watching happy animated movies on it because the colors are REALLY cool to look at, and in this mind frame, I’m just in the moment, enjoying life, and happy. So of course, I want to play and do happy things.
- I feel a general sense of warm fuzziness, well being, and bliss. The vibe I feel is just enjoying life fully in the moment, not worrying about anything, or thinking about anything. Just BEING. Every time I trip, I ALWAYS re-realize that I create problems for myself, often become too serious about things, and that anything I’m going through that’s bothersome to me isn’t actually THAT big of a deal – it’s all solvable!
- Colors look REALLY cool. That’s why I love to watch bright, fun, animated, happy movies and play happy video games.
- I have a general sense of awe, curiosity and appreciation for my life and all that is around me. Childlike, really. Everything is just beautiful. I ALWAYS re-realize just how good I actually do have it when I trip. This make me appreciative of all that I have already, rather than wanting more, more, more.
- I’m personally a really big beauty and aesthetics person (as in, I love my environment to be really aesthetically pleasing because that’s what pleases me) so sometimes when I trip, I’ll end up redecorating my house (LMAO). It’s like I just happen to notice where certain pieces don’t work well together, or where a decorative fixture would look better in a different room. That kind of thing. It’s like a surge of creativity just rushes me.
My trips always last around 8 hours. Being the early bird that I am, if I’m taking it at night, I’ll take it at around 4PM so it tapers off at a decent hour so I can go to sleep after and not fuck up my sleep schedule. I’ve taken it too late a few times and ended up staying up all night, which I try to avoid.
The effects I shared are stronger at first, and then come in waves, eventually slowing down and tapering off. I remember the first time I ever took it, waking up the next day and just having a brand new sense of understanding of life and wisdom surrounding my existence…what I’m here to do and what makes me genuinely happy, as well as a newly-found confidence in myself and my what I’m truly capable of. It was a beautiful experience that I’ll never forget.
And, no hangover! As long as I get a good night’s sleep, I wake up the next day feeling blissful, recharged, refreshed and creative AF.
Just like shrooms, before trying LSD for the first time, I was under the impression that it would make me hallucinate and see shit that wasn’t there, and completely lose myself. None of which was the case. I’m always well aware of exactly what’s going on and can handle myself just fine. I just think differently, is all. My perspective changes.
It’s an incredibly consciousness-expanding experience that I will keep revisiting for the rest of my life.
xo, alix